Currently the playoff seeding looks like it was made for the Rockets: 1 Warriors 2 Rockets 3 Spurs 4 Timberwolves 5 Thunder 6 Nuggets 7 Pelicans 8 Trail Blazers The bottom 3 teams look like fodder for the top 3 so it doesn't matter. But in the second round, Rockets would face Spurs while Warriors would likely face Thunder. (Let's not kid ourselves, Timberwolves aren't that good and will probably drop in seeding.) To me this works out really well! I think Rockets much prefer to face Spurs than Thunder in the hypothetical second round. Thunder has a Big 4 that is now gelling and mostly in their prime. Spurs have Leonard who looks hobbled and likely facing major decline Derrick Rose-style, and aging veterans or even players who should have retired long ago. In fact being second seed is so favorable that Dantoni really should start resting players and expanding rotation and not fight for first seed since it is better to be second seed anyway. Let Rockets face a Spurs team running on fumes and let Warriors face Thunder instead! Dantoni should really be trying to setup to face Spurs and dodge Thunder if at all possible. Do fans agree with me as well?
Don’t care who we face. If we playing team ball we will go far. Hopefully everyone is healthy But if I must pick I would pick OKC. We played horribly on Xmas day. We had no co3 or Luc. Plus we are on a slump still we were right there on the game. Okc has pretty much everyone healthy. Capela was back but not 100 and he got hit too. Harden was playing w no emotion and we could have stolen that game easily. By playoffs time we will be much better and healthy. And I think Thunder are what they are. Carmelo is taking a seat back but by playoff time he will want the ball more again. Pretty sure he will be shooting more and Westbrook too which is good for their opponent. So okc.
Me preferring to meet the Spurs has nothing to do with logic, so no one @ me with basketball reasons stuff I hate the Spurs Have always hated the Spurs (more than Mavs) I want to crush them I really r e a l l y enjoy crushing the Spurs, and seeing their fans in disbelief All Rockets championships are sweeter when we embarrass the Spurs en route
The spurs have a better record and kawahi has missed 80% of their games....yet u would rather play the spurs, man oh man do u ppl even know what a basketball is? Iam not saying the thunder dont look good, but they would be a much easier out in the playoffs than SA. Don't ever disregard how much of a difference coaching makes. You saw Mchale first hand you should know better
It seems like we play better on the road....could have something to do with our crowd or could be nothing. But we have definitely been playing better on the road for whatever reason.
That's a good point for regular-season games, but for the playoffs you'll see Toyota Center jumping Especially, if we play the Spurs or the Thunder
In the regular season, talent doesn't matter that much. With good coaching and beating up on lottery and pretenders, you can have a good record. But when playoffs come, talent matters. The starters of Thunder and Timberwolves are just flat out better than Spurs with perennially injured Leonard, past his prime Aldridge, a bunch of nobodies and old men on the verge of retirement. Better hope that if Rockets take 2nd seed that Spurs are 3rd seed. If Timberwolves or Thunder take 3rd seed, upset is coming.
no u closet OKC fan...Rockets>>OKC no matter how much u wish that wasn’t the case 2 of Minny’s top players have no playoff experience
Bring them all. Thunder, Spurs, Warriors. Throw the ****ing Jazz in there as a sideshow. My body is ready
How can we assume that the Wolves "aren't that good" and "will probably drop in the seeding?" Jimmy Butler is one of the best two-way players in the game, they're a deep team that added a lot of veterans in the offseason and they're well coached. The Wolves are clearly superior to the Thunder right now, and if the Spurs don't shape up and get healthy, Minnesota could easily surpass them for the third seed. At this point, I'd feel way more comfortable betting on Minnesota to crack the top 4 than OKC. The Thunder have no offensive scheme and are one of the thinnest rosters in the league. The Wolves seem pretty legit to me on paper.
Just checked, and the Wolves are fifth in the entire league in point differential and fifth in SRS. That's not a team to be taken lightly, and we shouldn't underestimate them.
At this point I feel like OKC and SA are equal. If healthy, we likely beat both teams in 6 games and it's a physical series either way. I'm really interested to see how Minny plays us on Thursday. This will dictate who I'm rooting for to get the #3 spot (SA or MIN). Right now I feel like MIN is not ready to win a 2nd round series, so if we finish in the 2 seed, I'd love to see MIN at 3, SA at 4 and OKC at 8 (or 5). For us, IMO, the best scenario is GSW having to play two physical series before we play them in the WCF... OKC in round 1, and then SA in round 2, both of which have a chance to win 2 games against GSW. The goal should be to force GSW to play 12 games before the WCF and for us to try to only play 10 or 11 games. Hopefully CP3 can give us that "closeout" mentality needed to sweep a team in the 1st round.